Category Archives: Chat

Audio Blog Post – IT History: An Interview with Brent’s Mom

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Today, I got to do something pretty cool! I got to record a quick interview about the history of IT and what some of today’s technologies look like through the eyes of someone who has done IT for the last 40 years. Even cooler than that, I got to interview MY MOM! 

Check this out; as she discusses mainframes, punch cards and tape vaults, insights about mainframe authentication and even quality control in the mainframe environment. She even gives advice to IT folks approaching retirement age and her thoughts on the cloud. 

She closes with a humorous insight into what she thinks of my career and when she knew I might be a hacker. :)

It’s good stuff, and you can download the audio file (m4a format) by clicking here. 

Thanks for listening and let me know if you have other IT folks, past or present, you think we should be talking to. I’m on Twitter (@lbhuston) , or you can respond in the comments.

Interview with Brent Huston: Meet “Paul,” An Attacker — Up Close and Personal

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Many organizations we talk to still vastly underestimate the capability of the threat. They still think of the attackers and the hackers as folks who are trying to use canned exploits or use the latest version of metasploits to pop a bunch of boxes — that’s just frankly not true. “Paul” is proficient in eight different coding languages. [He's skilled and learning.] That needs to become the mindset of the defender. - Brent Huston, CEO and Security Evangelist, MicroSolved, Inc.

What would you do if you met an attacker online? Give him a piece of your mind? Or dig a little deeper to find out what motivates him and how he operates? In this special interview, Brent Huston discusses a recent incident where he had such an opportunity.  In this fascinating conversation, Brent described how he met Paul and his attitude toward meeting another “up and coming” hacker. Take a listen! Discussion questions include:

  • How Brent tracked Paul down
  • What was Paul’s attitude toward Brent and his questions
  • A little about Paul and his skills
  • What does Paul use his compromised systems for?
  • What lessons can organizations draw from this encounter?

Interview Participants:
Brent Huston, CEO, Founder, and Security Evangelist
Mary Rose Maguire, Marketing Communication Specialist and moderator

Click the embedded player to listen. Or click this link to access downloads. Stay safe!